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High genetic differentiation among wild populations of alien Medicago sativa in Lithuania

  • Research Article
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Central European Journal of Biology

Abstract

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa; =M. sativa ssp. sativa) in Lithuania is sown as albuminous forage for cattle due to favourable climatic condition. Over many generations, alfalfa plants have escaped from cultivation fields into natural ecosystems and established wild populations. We collected and analyzed individuals from seventeen wild populations of M. sativa. Using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) analyses, 117 RAPD and 64 ISSR reproducible and highly polymorphic (90.8% for RAPD and 86.3% for ISSR) loci were established. AMOVA showed a high genetic differentiation of M. sativa populations for both types of DNA markers utilized. According to RAPD markers, the genetic variability among populations was 63.1% and 57.0% when ISSR markers were used. Taken together, these results demonstrate that wild populations of M. sativa possess a high potential of genetic variability, that could potentially result in colonization of natural ecosystems. The UPGMA cluster analysis also showed that the DNA markers discovered in this study can distinguish between M. sativa and M. falcata (=M. sativa ssp. falcata) populations and therefore may be used to study the genetic impact of M. sativa on the native populations of M. falcata.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Botany, Nature Research Centre, LT-08412, Vilnius, Lithuania

    Regina Vyšniauskienė & Vida Rančelienė

  2. Department of Botany and Genetics, Vilnius University, LT-03101, Vilnius, Lithuania

    Jolanta Patamsytė & Donatas Žvingila

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  1. Regina Vyšniauskienė
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  2. Vida Rančelienė
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  3. Jolanta Patamsytė
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  4. Donatas Žvingila
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Correspondence to Regina Vyšniauskienė.

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Vyšniauskienė, R., Rančelienė, V., Patamsytė, J. et al. High genetic differentiation among wild populations of alien Medicago sativa in Lithuania. cent.eur.j.biol. 8, 480–491 (2013). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-013-0159-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-013-0159-4

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